Creating With Thought and Emotion

Joy of Our Earth    Jim Plesh     acrylic on canvas     24” x 48”

As artists there are emotions and thoughts we bring into our creative work. There are emotions and thoughts we have about our completed creative work. And ultimately, there are thoughts and emotions we evoke in others when we share our work with them. When we embark upon creating something, we bring our whole selves into the process. Our experiences, our feelings, our expectations - along with our imagination and vision. These are the ingredients which make our art unique and distinctive from others.

It would seem then, that self-awareness is essential to creativity. The more we understand our thoughts and feelings for what they are, the better we're able to incorporate these elements into our work. Our work takes on greater depth, since it's the recognition of our range of emotions and thoughts which spur on the creative process. Stress, self-doubt and procrastination must be eliminated from the process. 

Many artists greatest creative efforts come when they are responding to strong emotions and want to express them through their art. This exhilarating experience is one of the reasons we, as artists, must continue as a way of life, to be aware of our feelings and respond with art which conveys emotion.  Technique, style and skill are  the tools - feelings, emotion and imagination are what fuels the tools.

 

Children and Creativity

Children have an abundance of creative energy. Their imagination is unending. The silly songs they sing, their spontaneous thoughts, innovative play, and the apparent ability to make something out of nothing all reflect their inborn creativity. Most wonderfully, they don't fret over what anyone else may think; they revel in their unique style and creativity.

But as we grow, outside influences come into play. We start to look outward rather than inward for guidance, motivation and approval. Books, magazines, television and so many other vehicles influence our thoughts and development. As should be, parents, teachers and others direct our growth. But through this process comes unrecognized barriers to spontaneity and creativity. For example, organized sports replace the novelty and exploration of spontaneous “pick-up” games. Youngsters, rather than dancing at will to the music within, are enrolled into classes to be guided in the regimen of dance. Likewise young artists are taught the mechanics of art, sometimes at the expense of imagination and exploration.

It is paramount through all of this organization that young people hold onto and exercise their imagination and need for search and discovery. Through their developmental years and into adulthood there should never be restrictions or guidelines on dreams, vision, feelings and freedom of exploration, all so much a part of imagination and creativity.

In looking at children, it's hard to believe that creativity ever came that easily to us. But it did. And it's possible to get that creative spontaneity flowing once again. Dance to the music within you, create a painting or do a craft just for the fun of it, decorate your house with a touch of abandon, say something silly without regret. Write an article allowing your creative juices to flow - and send it to me!

Painting With Imagination

Imagined Anamnesis   acrylic on canvas  36" x 36"  J. Plesh

                                          

Imagination is the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a time and way not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses. Imagination is the work of the mind that helps create. Imagination assists in providing meaning to experience and understanding to knowledge; it is a basic potency through which people make sense of the world, and contributes to the learning process.

“Our imagination is the most important faculty we possess. It can be our greatest resource or our most formidable adversary. It is through our imagination that we discern possibilities and options. Yet imagination is no mere blank slate on which we simply inscribe our will. Rather, imagination is the deepest voice of the soul and can be heard clearly only through cultivation and careful attention. A relationship with our imagination is a relationship with our deepest self.”        PAT B. ALLEN

I paint objects as I think them, not as I see them.    PABLO PICASSO

In the realist you have the sorry sight of the five         senses deprived of their imagination  ROBERT BRAULT

I am enough of an artist to draw freely upon my imagination. Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.       ALBERT EINSTEIN

From Cocktail to Crucifix

Manhattan    J. Plesh

acrylic on masonite      24” x 48”

private collection

Allison & James Nestor

Crucifix I    J. Plesh

acrylic on masonite    24” x 48”

private collection

Marion Suderland

Crucifixes and cocktails. An odd combination, indeed. The tie-in in this case is that they are the subjects of two of my paintings. Much of my work represents my interests and lifestyle in a somewhat abstract way. The representational painter will work from a photograph or on location, replicating the image in their unique style and technique. But with my expressionistic pieces I paint what I imagine or feel, what I see in my mind’s eye. The resulting paintings are more symbolic than representational. For instance, my intent was not so much to make a Manhattan cocktail look like a Manhattan cocktail than it was to give my somewhat imagined expression of one; therefore I have rendered it in the semi-abstract. Likewise, the painting of the crucifix is more symbolic than accurate. The paintings allow the viewer to see and determine what they read into the painting. To me they’re clearly paintings of a Manhattan and a Crucifix. Yet to other viewers their eyes and mind are allowed, actually encouraged, to determine their own personal connection with the art.  As it should be.

Cheers and God Bless!

A Visual Memoir

AMBRIDGE   acrylic on canvas   36” x 48”    J. Plesh

private collection: Tom Jones and Sue Sorein

Plesh’s painting Ambridge could just as rightfully be titled Aliquippa. Aliquippa, Pennsylvania is situated just across the Ohio River from Ambridge and one time home to the Jones and Laughlin Steel Company. Reflecting a time when steel mill factories were heart and lifeblood to surrounding towns, Ambridge is a visual memoir—a homage to Plesh’s youth and artistic awakenings, and pays reverence to the memory of this erstwhile era.  

“The painting Ambridge depicts my remembrances of implicit elements of my youth .  I recall the steels mills of Aliquippa, how they lit up the evening sky with their amber tones from the massive furnace fires. As a young boy and into young adulthood, I was constantly in awe of this magnificent visual impression.  The river added its own layer of mystique and beauty.  Despite the implications of life in a steel mill town, I actually found a magical beauty and romantic sensitivity in those moments.”   

Even as a child, Plesh’s artistic sensibilities were extraordinary  and well-honed.  His perspective here, in stark contrast to ostensible perception, is not one of grinding metal nor billows of dark smoke, but rather highlights the tempering and seraphic quality of the burnished night’s sky which presided  so poignantly over his youth.   A surreal melding of form and the delineation of space on the canvas place us exactly behind his eyes. The exquisite use of color and technique yield an iridescent,  nostalgic effect—the burning echoes of mills long abandoned.  We are sensorially transported back in time.  

                 - Nena Black            excerpt from the book  A Creative Journey

Painting a Song on Canvas

HOT AUGUST NIGHT II    acrylic on yupo paper   J.Plesh

I cannot sing or play a musical instrument; in fact, I cannot even read music. But music has been very inspiring to me through the years and has played a part in many of my paintings. Sometimes I prefer quiet solitude while creating; however, on those occasions when I paint with background music, I can feel the music’s influence and allow it to engulf me and likewise become part of the painting. Sometimes it’s like the brush or palette knife is the baton swinging in concert with the melody and momentum of the music. That’s the joy and beauty of expressionistic painting. Feeling and emotion come into play, generating creativity and encouraging spontaneity and the imagination to move in unison with the rhythm and beat of the music. Usually the music is an accompaniment to the creation of the painting. But sometimes the music itself is the reason for the painting. My painting, through its creation, represents the music. The song or music is the model, the image in my mind that I am intent on replicating. 

Years ago I attended a Neil Diamond concert with my family at the Providence (RI) Civic Center. It was a great show and we had a great time. Arriving home late in the evening after the concert, my wife and children went to bed. But I was way too pumped up and inspired to call it a night. Being in this creative zone, I chose instead to paint and did so for hours into the night. I painted with the image of the concert and the music playing in my mind. The result was a painting I titled “Hot August Night.” The movement, excitement and inspiration of that evening were all captured in the painting. It was purchased not too long after its creation by the Corning Glass Corporation for display in the lobby of their corporate medical division. The painting, like the music, lives on.

The Passing of a Tradition

We are in the midst of witnessing the passing of a once-popular form of social expression, a given way of life for so many years. Greeting cards, once the chosen medium for wishes and communications to friends, relatives and associates, are becoming somewhat antiquated and mundane. There are many contributing factors to the decline of greeting card usage as we knew it. The technology of E-greetings, text messaging and social media such as Facebook are contributing factors. Part of it is also the increased cost of postage, but probably the biggest single factor is the abandonment of tradition. The practice at one time was to give a greeting card if you couldn’t afford a gift or to give a greeting card along with the gift. No longer. Additionally Christmas cards, the top-selling seasonal category, are seeing continually declining sales. An industry that once enjoyed a dozen major publishers and hundreds of competitive, smaller publishers is now down to two majors and an assortment of smaller companies struggling to survive. From purely a personal creative point of view it’s unfortunate that writers, artists, designers, illustrators and photographers are losing a creative outlet, one that was enjoyable, challenging and extremely lucrative. Many artists supported their personal fine art endeavors by working in the commercial field of greeting card design and art illustration. A void not easily replaced.


In America sending greeting cards is a tradition that goes back over 200 years! Louis Prang, a German immigrant who started a small lithographic business near Boston in 1856 , is credited with the start of the greeting card industry in America. Within ten years of founding his firm, he had perfected the color lithographic process to a point where his reproductions of great paintings surpassed those of other graphic arts craftsmen. In the early 1870s , Prang began publishing deluxe editions of Christmas cards, which found a ready market in England. In 1875, he introduced the first complete line of Christmas cards to the American public. Prang's cards reached their height of popularity in the early 1890s , when cheap imitative imports began to flood the market, eventually forcing Prang to abandon his greeting card publishing business. Between 1890 and 1906, there was a marked decline in U.S. greeting card production. In the years immediately following 1906 , the domestic business climate for greeting cards gathered momentum, and a number of today's leading publishers were founded. Most of the cards by these fledgling U.S. publishers bore little relation to Prang's elaborate creations. The expressed sentiment was the predominant element; the illustrated portions were secondary. Following World War I , new publishers continued to enter the field and accelerated competition produced important innovations in printing processes, art techniques and decorative treatments for greeting cards. In the early 1930s , publishers increasingly adopted the use of color lithography, a move that would propel the U.S. greeting card industry toward continued growth and expansion. During World War II , the industry rallied for the war effort, helping the government sell war bonds and providing cards for the soldiers overseas. This period also marked the beginning of its close relationship with the U.S. Postal Service. By the 1950s , the studio card – a long, slim card with a humorous punch line – appeared on the scene to firmly establish the popularity of humor in American greeting cards. During the 1980s , alternative cards began to appear – cards not made for a particular holiday or event, but as a more general communication or wish to another. The popularity of “non-occasion" cards continued to swell through the years. Massive growth in electronic technology, and burgeoning consumer use of the Internet, gave birth to the electronic greeting card or E-card in the late 1990s . The development of this entirely new medium for card-sending diversified greeting card communications within the industry, producing new E-card publishers as well as E-greeting product offerings by traditional publishers.


Jim Plesh’s career spans over fifty years in the social expression/paper products industry. Starting as a designer for American Greetings and then going from art director of Fairfield Publishing Co., to Creative Director VP of Rust Craft Greetings, to Creative VP of Paramount Greetings, he then founded Plesh Creative Group, Inc., recognized as one of the leading creative firms in the industry.

He’s been involved in the creation of over forty-five thousand original greeting card designs and editorial content as well as founder of numerous social expression creative properties. 

Regatta

REGATTA MAJESTIC      acrylic on canvas    24” x 58 ”      J. PLESH        available as giclee' limited edition print

                                      

Regatta is a race—of stern and sail, muscle and mind, passion and perseverance, will and wind.  

The contrasting fury of the brush strokes, and the yielding prismatic precision of light and line, capture this dichotomy. Plesh's regattas series of paintings bring forth the the joy and wonder of sailing allowing the viewer to feel the majesty of it all. This series illustrate his mastery of capturing a fleeting moment in time, the impression rather than the actual. His visual expressions are almost abhorrent to detail preferring instead to bring the viewer into a sphere of looking and feeling from within, sharing an experience, a happening. Standing in front of his large painting Majestic Regatta one can feel the breeze, the water's mist and allow their soul to see, their heart to feel and their eyes to relish.

                                                           - Nena Black      From the book: Jim Plesh  A Creative Journey

The Sound of Creativity

Shared creativity is the start of many friendships. At a gallery showing in Bonita Springs, Florida, this truth was played out when I met Julie Patchouli and Bruce Hecksel. Bruce was enamored with my paintings, especially the piece Moments Remembered. I noticed him gazing at the painting and returning later to gaze even longer. We struck up a conversation and talked until closing of the gallery. Bruce, Julie and I became rapid friends.

Bruce and Julie’s creativity takes the form of sound. I had the pleasure of attending one of their shows and was blown away with their music and flavorful presentation. Julie’s songwriting is masterful, Bruce’s guitar expertise is breathtaking, and both have infectious enthusiasm. I became an immediate fan, and since then I’ve listened to their CDs consistently for enjoyment and inspiration. 

MOMENTS REMEMBERED   36” X 48”   acrylic on canvas   J. Plesh

As if the music were not enough in the sphere of creative talent, I found that Bruce is a painter/designer. He creates their CD jacket designs as well as fine art paintings, many of which illustrate their beloved guitars as subject matter. I continue to be impressed by this couple’s talent.

MOMENTS REMEMBERED, an acrylic painting on canvas, depicts an expressionistic rendering of my remembrance and interpretation of countryside fields and streams found in regions of Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. The bold strokes created with brush and palette knife capture the spontaneous freedom of the subject and its interpretation. 

Moments Remembered is currently on display at Gallery 164  The Promenade in Bonita Springs, FL

Searching For New Beginnings

                                  ”

Warrior and Woman    acrylic on canvas    48" x 48"    J. Plesh

As we grow, the events of life contribute to who and what we are. Creating art is somewhat the same. A painting includes a series of events or steps taken to grow the image. And like life, our art continues to grow after each accomplishment. The creative process is one in continual search of a new beginning. The ending is for the viewer. The completed painting tells the artist’s story, but by then the artist is already at a new beginning—exploring, visualizing, seeking a new story to tell. This is the way art is made. This is the creative process—moving in the direction which gives the artist his or her greatest pleasure, excitement and challenge. The painter must render canvas after canvas, searching and perfecting, before he can freely express himself with spontaneity and authority. The freedom that results from these efforts has no boundaries.  Not unlike life itself.

Remembering Robert Laessig

Upon graduating from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh at age 19, I entered the work force as a designer at American Greetings in Cleveland, Ohio. At the time American Greetings was a hotbed of creative talent, comprised of outstanding painters such as Fred Leach, Maxine Masterfield and Al Chiara; humorist Tom Wilson, creator of “Ziggy”; writer George Burditt; and numerous others. The atmosphere was electric and fostered creativity. One of the most colorful and dynamic personalities there was Robert Laessig. Considered the dean of the creative department, Mr. Laessig was my first art director as well as a wise mentor in those early years of my career. His tenacity and enthusiasm were contagious, and his talent as an artist and painter unparalleled. His critiques and direction were invaluable to my development as an artist.

Bob Laessig was an innovator and perfectionist. His mastery of floral art is second to none. His art was his life, and he lived it to the fullest. Upon leaving American Greetings and the commercial art field, he became a fine artist extraordinaire, enjoying super success and recognition. Laessig won prizes at the Akron Art Institute and the Butler International Art Show in Youngstown, Ohio. He was presented a distinctive award for the best watercolor in a show, and an abstract painting of his was purchased for the Cleveland Museum of Art. His work hanging in no less than four museums, he also exhibited at the American Embassy in Norway, designed the official White House Christmas Cards for five years during the Johnson Administration, won the Ohio Watercolor Society Gold Medal and won the Winsor & Newton Award. Additionally, he earned the top award in the National Academy of Design Exhibition at the National Academy Galleries in New York City. The accolades go on.

In his later years Bob enjoyed traveling the world and stated in his biography, “My love of traveling also contributed to my keen observation of nature as a whole, including color, layout, shapes and forms and at times interesting subject matter.” Mr. Laessig passed away on November 16, 2010 at age 97.

One of my fondest memories of Bob Laessig involves an art exhibit sponsored by and for the artists of American Greetings, an annual ritual at that time. Awards were given for two separate categories: realistic, representational art and contemporary/abstract works. Bob was always expected to win first prize in the realistic category and usually did. He also was on the receiving end of good-natured ribbing about his traditionalism by the contemporary artists. That was the case until one year when awards were announced. Bob won first place in the realistic/representational range as expected. When first place was announced for contemporary/abstract works, a new name emerged and no one stepped forward - until Bob Laessig stood up to accept first place in the contemporary category as well. He had entered an abstract piece under an alias. He won the best award in both ranges and had the last laugh on us all.

Laessig using the help of a heavy grass roller on a long piece of cloth covered with paint and stretched out in the yard. Later that cloth was cut into pieces, waxed and worked on until suitable as backgrounds for his paintings. He developed the technique of using Pellon and wax. A trip to India broadened his knowledge of batik, the art of waxing.

The Gift of Creativity

We were all born with the gift of creativity. All of us, though, have not yet embraced this gift and appreciated its being and potential. The reason for this often stems from the misconception that one has to be an artist, poet or musician to create. It is true that these people are particularly recognized for their creativity because of their chosen field. But any person can create. A person’s life is engulfed in creativity. It is our nature as human beings to create. After all, what greater creation is there than a newborn child? 

Recognize and accept your own creative potential; build on it, and share it. Whether as a gardener, hair dresser, salesman or mechanic, it matters that you are indeed creative. As part of your being, the creative power within you has been provided with an outlet through which it can outwardly express itself. Put this means to use and let your creativity blossom. Do not worry if your methods and materials seem unorthodox or not readily associated with creativity. Canvas and brush are not the only creative tools; your tools may be hammer and nails or comb and hairspray. Creativity can take form even with emotion or mental visualization. Imagine your creative force bringing forth your thoughts, your beliefs, your desires or wishes. Creativity is a gift that gives freely.

You are a creative being. Bring to life the dreamer within you—the creative you, desirous of outward expressions. 

 

The Most Realistic Photos in the World

This summer I had the pleasure and good fortune to meet Almont Green.  Having just returned from Florida and approaching my office - studio at The Old Brick Mill Building in Medway, MA 

I saw on display off the lobby several outstanding photo images. The images were bright, clear, clean - and 3 Dimensional!  I found this to be the studio of a new tenant in the building so I walked in and introduced myself to our new neighbor. The introduction was the beginning of many enjoyable and enlightening conversations. Almont Green combines creative talent with uncanny, wizardly skills of science and math to come up with super realistic three dimensional photographs. Almont’s enthusiasm and vision for this scientific art form is inspiring - and to me, mind-boggling.

Almont Green creates life size 3D photographs that must be, quite simply, the most realistic in the world. He digitally captures an array of multi-perspective images at very high resolution, extreme focal length, and with extended dynamic range using lighting and composition techniques he has developed specifically for the purpose of life size 3D photograph creation. He brings his own interpretation to the photograph, processing the multi-perspective images by hand with the aid of computers. He manipulates each image, adjusting tonal balance and luminance details available within the extended dynamic range of his unique photographic array. With software and processing methods developed exclusively by Almont Green, his vision begins with the creation of a digital master, just as a traditional artist uses brushes and paint on canvas, to achieve the ultimate in artistic 3D photographic realism. From this digital master he creates a life-size giclee print with up to 10 different HDR pigment inks output via an Ergosoft raster image processor at a print resolution with approximately 1,500 non-overlapping dots per inch. This print is then laminated by hand onto a high resolution hand selected lenticular lens material with three times the normal lens density used for interlaced imagery.

Natural viewing of multiple perspectives is now possible. No weird glasses or special viewing device is needed to look at an Almont Green 3D photograph. Almont Green 3D photographs can be viewed just like any photo.  It's not magic, it is science. It is math. It is a custom camera rig with multiple lenses at extreme focal length. It is 21st century art - photographic artistry with unmatched realism - unique in the entire world. 

When you view an Almont Green Photograph, you see through a window that opens beyond the boundary of time. You see all of the resolution, luminance dynamic range, physical size, dimensional depth and perspective that Almont's eyes saw at the moment of shutter release.

I make no attempt to replicate on this blog an image of Almont’s photography. You’ve got to see it in real life to appreciate the dimensional, super realistic impact. To know more about him, visit his web-site at www.almontgreen.com

Capturing Wildlife. On Canvas.

A short commentary on another wonderful friend and painter: Ed Takacs

Ed Takacs is passionate about his art. What makes Ed’s paintings so special and worthy of his passion are their celebration of wildlife in all forms. With a palette filled with the colors of nature, Ed paints his love and respect for the co-inhabitants of our world. Through great patience and extraordinary talent, his inner vision becomes a reality.

His art begins in the very midst of nature, where Ed enjoys taking photos for reference. Ed has garnered thousands of these photos from several trips to Africa with his wife Missy. With camera in hand, he looks for the right angles and proper lighting to capture his subject matter. Once these shots are taken, he pulls them all together to begin his next creation. Beautiful images of scenery and wildlife are then captured in a new way, painted on canvas with diligence and finesse.

Working in watercolor, oil and acrylic, Ed has the luxury of using whichever of these mediums best captures the essence of his current composition. Indeed, he needs this versatility, because his paintings feature not only the majestic animals of Africa but animals from all around the world, including the delicate birds we see all around us.

Soft-spoken and witty, Ed Takacs combines humility with an air of quiet confidence. Stepping away from his meticulous renderings, Ed enjoys an occasional cigar as he speaks of his art and earth-found inspiration.

Ed displays in several galleries and is the recipient of awards and recognition for his representational paintings of wildlife.